Hunter Greene Machine’s Masterful Pitching Performance Finally Earns Him First Win Of 2023

Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene picked up his first win of the season on May 26 against the Chicago Cubs.

 

 

With the win under his belt, Greene is going to continue to go out there and dominate on the mound and put his team in the best position to win games. 

 

His recent performance against the Cubs is arguably his best of the season so far. Greene went six innings without allowing a hit or a run and he struck out a season high 11 batters. He was on point in that game, and you can see that he was dialed in from the time he took the mound in the first inning.

 

On the season, Green has a 1-4 record with a 4.18 ERA and 80 strikeouts through 11 starts.

 

 

The Reds are a young team with a lot of talented individuals and Greene understands that and wants his team to get better each day.

 

“People (have) got to understand through the early stages that there will be growing pains,” Greene told The Enquirer. “I’m trying to figure stuff out. We have a young group of players who will be figuring things out. We’re working hard every day, putting pieces together. It’ll pay off really soon.”

 

 

 

 

You can already see that Greene has shown improvement from last season. The 23-year-old understands the game more and he’s being more strategic out there on the mound. Everyone knows he can go out there and throw 100 plus with ease, but there’s more to it than that. An effective pitcher knows and understands when to throw certain pitches in certain counts.

 

 

Greene has started to understand that he needs to rely on his offspeed pitches in order to set up the fastball. Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson wants to continue to see Greene go to the changeup early in games.

 

“It’s probably pretty well documented that it’s been pretty good at times and there have been inconsistencies too,” Johnson said. “I do think his last few outings, he threw his changeup more and sooner than he had in other games. It’s helped him probably navigate the lineup better. It certainly helps get them off his slider and his fastball, so he becomes less predictable. That’s been the biggest thing.”

 

 

As he gets more comfortable working in his changeup and getting his slider to be more effective, Greene is going to be a nightmare out there on the mound. It’s special watching Greene pitch because not many pitchers can do what he’s doing and throw as hard as he can. Reds manager David Bell has been around the game for a while and knows MLB hitters have no problems making changes at the plate to where they can hit a pitcher throwing as hard as Greene.

 

“You need that (fastball) to be a big part of your game when you throw it that hard,” Bell said. “It’s no different than guys who don’t throw that hard. You still have to locate. You still have to use it at the right time. You still have to use deception because if that’s all you have, these big league hitters face velocity like that enough now where they can make that adjustment. You still have to pitch. That’s the thing from a growth standpoint that Hunter is continually getting better at.”

 

As the season progresses, it’s going to be interesting to see the adjustments Greene makes on the mound, because he wants to be able to pitch into the late innings for his team.

 

“I’m hoping I can work on my pitches and get early contact and go deeper into games,” Greene said. “It’s a little tough when there’s more swing and miss and foul balls. It is what it is. I’d love to go nine innings with no hits. That’s not the normal. I’m focused on the now.”